The Dumstrang Champion
by Alex Embers
Summary: Mila Angelova. Strange name. Strange girl. Goes to Dumstrang she does, going to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Her goal: To beat Viktor Krum once and for all. But as everyone knows, one can't resist a certain redhead's charm. Care to find out what goes on here? (Rated T just in case).
1. Chapter 1

The Dumstrang Champion.

Chapter One.

Mila Angelova. What a strange name. Even in Bulgaria people choose the meanings of their children's names, and '_rival, emulating' _wasn't exactly what one would give as a named nature for their child. Or is it? Mila came from an _extremely _competitive wizard family; her mother having been the first woman to successfully lead the Bulgarian Quidditch Team to a huge worldwide victory back in her glory days was called Veronika which meant '_victory bringer'. _Mila's mother was dark haired with brown eyes and a golden skin; that was Bulgarian at its best. Her father meanwhile, was the _to-be _Minister for Magic in Bulgaria, after the old one retired of course. He was called Andrei, meaning '_man, warrior'. _He was dark blonde haired with lighter brown eyes than his wife, an intimidating build and a rich golden-almost-toasted skin-colour.

Mila was an only child, she herself was sixteen- nearly seventeen –and attended one of the best schools in the world; Dumstrang. Both of her parents had gone to this school, as well as their ancestors, her blood was as squeaky clean as it could get.

She had inherited from her mother her dark hair, dark eyes and good strength. From Andrei came the skin colour, the wit, the efficiency and of course the huge ego and diamond-hard pride. She was an Angelova after all, and should behave like one.

The other Dumstrang students were in awe of her and her family; they were either terrified of her or respected her deeply- all except for one. His name was Viktor Krum. The youngest seeker to ever play in the Quidditch World cup, he flew swifter than Mila could ever manage, he was handsome; no doubt about it, and had a reputation similar to hers. Apart from their origins they only had two other things in common:

Their competitiveness and their mutual hatred for each other.

At Dumstrang like any other school, there were houses; four to be exact. They were the Atticus House, whose colours were green and black; the Concienne House, which had the red and white colours; the Liberalis, purple and grey, and finally the Terpsychora which was yellow and periwinkle.

Krum was a and Mila was a. Mortal enemies.

"Alright, gather round" Headmaster Igor Karkaroff said over the noise of the Dumstrang students. Mila was one of the first to look at him curiously; she was sat on top of a large square table at the far left corner of the huge Main Hall, it was decorated in red and black being the Dragon table, her friends were all sitting around her, talking and listening to each other. "We have decided to once more participate in the TriWizard Tournament. Based on the post months I have chosen the top ten students to participate in name of our school. These are to be the following;

Viktor Krum" He paused to let the roars of applause ring thoroughly before continuing.

"Aleksandar Chervenkov"

"Nikolai Bojilov"

"Sergei Doritsch"

"Dimitar Lukanev"

"Ivana Sarac"

"Violeta Rakovski"

"Rayna Zukanov"

"Kalina Michakoff"

"Mila Angelova" Thunderous applause came after each of them, for they were the top of the top, but none of the other eight matched the responses that Viktor and Mila got. Cheering, screaming, stomping, clapping, all sorts. But Viktor just looked for Mila in the crowd as she did the same for him, when their eyes met there were cold silent words said between them. _"May luck be against your favor"_.

Mila had her things in a bag, charmed to be extended for everything to fit. She was looking out of the window and to the winter wonderland beyond. The exact whereabouts of the school Dumstrang were unknown even to those who attended, but it was rumored that it was somewhere in either Sweden or Norway. It was freezing. Mila was definitely used to the cold by now, but it was still freezing in any language. She sighed before sitting down with one leg under her on her thickly insulated bed. They were to head to Britain the following morning. Their way of transport was what the students usually got on to get to the school; the Dumstrang Ship. It was said that it had had a name earlier in history, but had worn off and no-one could remember it. She was a skeletal ship, the ghost of a former glory.

She was extremely ancient, but Mila loved her for some reason. Maybe it was how it was always so silent and peaceful, or how when they travelled above the water Mila could get up on deck and enjoy the sharp, cold air. Whatever the reason, she just did.

Mila was what one would call a sixth year- or a year twelve. She was in the year under Krum, and was rather bitter about it. No one knew when their rivalry started, or why, but they guessed that it was probably because you could only have one winner. And both, Krum and Mila desperately desired to be that person.

Mila was the only one in sixth year to have been chosen to go to Hogwarts, the rest were all seventh years that were just below her magical standard. She had always been driven to work her hardest and be the best, since she started magical pre-school she had had to be the best. No one else. Apparently it had paid off, since she was going to maybe be the Dumstrang champion and all those kids that she had competed against in her previous years to get to the top were not. Violeta Rakovski was her best friend. Even if she was on the year above her, they were s close as two people could get. Mila didn't _need _anyone else, she was sure that she and Violeta could take on the world all by themselves if they had to. Though they did have other friends (most who had been chosen) they all knew to lay off the pair; since their bond was unbreakable.

Mila heard nearly silent footsteps enter the room. She only knew a person to be this quiet when they walked. "What do you think?" She asked not even looking up. Mila was definitely excited but was taking in her last day in Dumstrang for quite a while.

"I think that this is great Mila! This is a once in a lifetime chance for us. Who knows? You could even beat Krum" Violeta sat beside her. They were about the same height but looked quite drastically different. Whilst Mila was brown haired, Violeta had dyed her hair to dirty blonde, Mila was golden coloured; Violeta was just about fully black.

Their eyes were what confused everyone; surely their colours should be the other way round? Mila's eyes were brown and Violeta's were bright green.

"I _will _beat him this time. I swear to God. _I will_"


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: hello, this will be quick I promise. This is my first story on this website, but I don't know whether I should make it public or keep writing to myself. Please tell me your opinion so far and if you would like to actually read this story, I hope you like it.

**Chapter Two.**

The next morning I couldn't contain the nerves at the pit of my stomach, my excitement had not managed to reach me yesterday, but now it was taking its toll. I just lay there; the blankets drawn tightly around me, smiling up at the cream-plastered ceiling. My bag was all packed, my goodbyes all said, letters home were sent and time seemed to have frozen until the moment that day struck six o'clock. Which was in five minutes. I undressed from my thick pyjamas and redressed in the warm and plain school uniform. It was 6:03 by the time that I had wrestled my snow boots on and with a finalistic air pulled the big, wooly, Concienne coloured red and white hat that my Aunt Mascha, mother of my favorite cousin Iskra, had knitted for me over my cold ears.

I left the dorm without a second glance and purposefully strode to the Entrance Hall, where Headmaster Karkaroff had told us to meet him. I wasn't exceptionally fond of Karkaroff, it wasn't because he had done anything to me personally; but because he used to be a Death Eater. It shouldn't be much of a problem, but it just made me uneasy how he must have killed people- _innocent people _–and was now in charge of over five hundred children. He did also spook me a little, in my first year here I could have sworn that his teeth had looked like fangs.

Viktor, Rayna, Aleksandar, Nikolai, Violeta and Ivana were already there waiting with the inpatient Headmaster. Sergei, Dimitar and Kalina hadn't arrived yet, and so I joined the line behind Ivana, with Karkaroff facing us at the very front. Less than a minute later brisk walking was heard and the three missing candidates were visible at the far end, having just turned the last corner. They were all in the Terpsychora House, and were consequently not the most serious people around. They arrived with big grins on their faces and didn't sense that Karkaroff wasn't in the mood for cheerfulness. Kalina was a musician, she played the guitar better than anyone I have ever known and cast spells to the beat of an extraordinarily fast song that no one else could hear. Dimitar was the school prankster; he had the most creative ways of ruining a person's day in history. He is definitely unstable, because he is dead good at curses and hexes and doesn't have a problem with using them against someone who has got on the wrong side of him. I have made friends with him to stay on the safe side, but he comes in handy when matters involve Viktor; I am not the only one to dislike him after all.

Sergei was a different matter altogether. He was quieter and more reserved; an introvert really. He liked to keep to keep to himself and his poems, he was very clever with words and sounds and it wouldn't surprise me if he grew to be a Spell-Inventor. The three of them were the top students in Terpsychora and not people to mess with. Viktor and Rayna were both in Atticus, I hated Viktor and wasn't too fond of Rayna either. But in all fairness she didn't like me much either so there wasn't any lost love between us. Aleksandar, Ivana and Violeta were all Liberalises; the smartest kids in the whole school, no doubt about it. They were all very good looking in that house, but they much preferred to be geniuses and stick to their books than flirting and cosmetics and using their appearance to their advantage. Finally, me and Nikolai are Conciennes. It was the house for the Wizard Nobility at one point, for the most charming and pure people. I like to think that we are the best, but I don't tell other people that- especially not Violeta. Karkaroff looked at all of us disapprovingly, his usual expression, before turning on his heel and advancing out of the grand school doors. Outside it was even colder than inside and I was extremely thankful to my Aunt Mascha for the woolen hat keeping most of my head warm, I was pleased to see Viktor's ears already red from the biting cold. Good.

The ship awaited us further down by the biggest lake of ours at about twenty minutes trek down the large hill on which our castle stood. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, she looked stronger than usual here against the freezing cold; a sort of defiance in the way she was bobbing up and down in the water, calmly, in heavy contrast to the rampaging waves enticed by the howling wind. The Headmaster took out his wand and with a non-verbal flick of his wrist he levitated a long and wide plank to the side of the ship, letting it rest itself against the bank we were standing on. "Up you go" He said emotionlessly, we dutifully obliged and carefully made our way onto the ship; instantly going below decks to the warmth of the cabins. We had all chosen the first few cabins, two per room. As per usual, Violeta and I went to share one- but the boys stopped us. "There are ten of us, five boys and five girls. A boy and a girl will have to share" Krum said monotonously. I wanted to shrug his uncomfortable hand from where he had placed it heavily on my shoulder and just head in with Violeta; I had a partner, it was their problem. Rayna looked like she wanted to share with Krum, but we all knew that he would much rather sleep on the top deck whilst we were still submerged than share a cabin with her. They were all looking at me for some reason. _Expectantly. _It suddenly clicked. No boy and girl present got on as well as me and-

"No. Simply _no._ Violeta and I are paired, you lot can do whatever you want" I argued firmly, I saw Violeta nod her agreement slightly. Krum glared at me.

"It has to be two of us, and it will not help anyone if those two people are constantly at each other's throats" He tried to reason forcefully. It was as if he was describing me and him sharing a cabin. He looked me in the eyes, his gaze unwavering and rock hard. He was used to everyone being intimidated and cowering away when he did this, but he had never tried it on me. It didn't work.

I held his gaze with pride and utmost defiance. We stayed liked that for a while, fighting a silent battle between us trying to get the other to back down. But it wasn't either of us to break the silence that had settled upon us: it was Violeta. She let out an exasperated sigh. "This is getting nowhere" She commented irritably. "Krum, stop looking at Mila like that or you _will _end up at each other's throats. Mila, stop being so stubborn and do as you're told; you go with Nikolai. Everyone else pair up, Ivana, you're with me. I will see you all at breakfast." She said with an air of command. If I knew anything about Violeta it was that when she had said something, she meant it. There would be no getting out of it from my behalf and no more glaring from Krum's. When Violeta took charge, her word was law. She went into the first cabin and closed the door behind her with a soft _click. _We all stood there, momentarily frozen before pairing up. Nikolai came over to me with a smile. "It's alright, I don't snore or anything" He said, I cracked a grin. "Good. Neither do I"

Sharing with Nikolai wasn't as bad as it could have been. Both beds were top bunks and we spent a lot of the time lounging on them discussing things that might happen in the tasks; what Hogwarts may be like; and swapping childhood stories that we had already told each other a million times. If someone had ever to fill in for Violeta as my best friend it would definitely be Nikolai. Weird, considering that when we first met he had been really stupid towards me and I had hated the very ground he walked on. But he wasn't a bad guy really, he preferred to stick to his group of friends and ignore all the girls ogling at him. I couldn't really blame them: Nikolai was even better looking than Krum- and that was saying something. He had a gorgeous mop of honeycomb hair, the neatest it ever was was all over the place and sticking out at odd angles. His eyes were a striking blue that took your breath away. His whole appearance looked as if it had been specially made by some extremely skilled craftsman; from his dead-on-center-straight-and-perfectly-sized nose to his quick and very well-shoed feet.

But his smile was what I liked best about him. It was nice and friendly.

Nothing more nothing less. Perhaps a little cheeky from time to time, but it was never flirty or cold or sarcastic like most boys' were. Just to let you know dear reader, there is nothing going on between Nikolai and I, and there never has been. He is like the brother I never had, so to speak.

After about a week or so of sailing above and underneath the cold waves we finally arrived in British waters, though still not quite at our destination.

"This is Inverness, I think. I looked at the map yesterday, it will only take us a few more hours" Nikolai said, and he was right. Because at 6:00pm British time we were in a huge lake in front of a castle. Hogwarts. I cannot describe it well enough to do it justice. Our castle was like a shabby cottage in comparison to the magnificence of Hogwarts. It was set out of millions of fat, hard grey slabs of perfectly rectangular rocks; it was colossal and had towers and even a few mighty spires. It was truly spectacular. The Hogwarts students were at a large open space (a courtyard perhaps) and were facing us on the ship. A massive carriage was parked near them with a team of gigantic white horses that were clearly visible even from this distance. They were so far that only their hair-colours were distinguishable. Blondes, blacks, browns the odd dyed hair, and surprising bright red. There seemed to be a clan of redheads rather close to the front, I counted more or less four with a black haired head accompanied with a bush of brown in the middle. On the opposite edge of the crowd there was one head that particularly stood out in a throng of dark hair; a platinum blond boy or girl. He or she had it short and it was like seeing a birthday cake at a funeral- completely out of place.

I helped lower the anchor with Nikolai, Aleksandar and Kalina whilst the rest either went off to fetch Karkaroff or lowered the thick, long plank onto the yet-green bank across the water. Karkaroff looked rather pleased with himself for some reason that none of us knew, he was first off the ship and back onto the not-so-dry land. Followed shortly by, of course, his little pet Krum. I let Rayna go after him before going myself, not wanting to be stuck in between them. _No thank you. _We walked as smartly and proudly as we could in out line up to where the Hogwart's lot stood, their Headmaster was drastically different from ours. He was positively beaming at us all, he was tall- taller than Karkaroff, and had a very lengthy snow white beard that was neatly tucked into his belt. He looked kindly old, unlike our very grouchy own Headmaster, I liked him very much.

But not nearly as much as the ginger clan that came to welcome us straight afterwards, of course it's not like I would ever tell anyone though.

Highly improper.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

We were all led into a huge hall with four long tables set out in different colours. Over a billion candles floated above our heads and the ceiling reflected the sky outside. There was a large table going a shorter length across the hall were the Hogwarts Professors were seated, each one dressed in their best finery.

As we entered girls of all ages seemed to throw themselves at Krum- and even some boys. They didn't pay much heed to me, for which I am mildly glad, but looked at me as if sensing that I wasn't like them. In truth, I wasn't like them; I was of noble blood and had a magical capacity that as far as I was concerned they wouldn't even dream capable. Lowly peasants, that is what they were if truth be told. But I didn't mind them; they looked very proud of themselves and were extremely pleasant to be around. It was all new to me; the liberty with the uniform; the laughter in the hallways; the not-so-silent admiration that radiated of each and every single one of them; the way the boys winked at me without looking positively terrified and most of all: how none of them seemed to know who I was. _They will soon enough. _I thought with a light smirk. The age restrictions for the tournament were clear, but I had been picked out anyway; never mind the rules that forbid me to enter- Karkaroff had made sure of that. He was the sort of man that would do anything to win this tournament- even get a sixteen year old girl into a competition only authorized for seventeen year olds. I was glad that he did though. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. Soon they would all be in awe of me, and I would be even more proud of myself than I already was.

We looked at the four tables; one crimson and gold, one yellow and black, another blue and bronze and the last one was green and silver. We didn't know where to go really, I thought that I might head to the red and gold one since the clan of redheads was there, but Krum chose otherwise. He chose the green and silver one, the one with the snake mascot, and of course, where Krum goes everybody goes. He sat down and I sat on one side of him with Rayna on his other. The platinum blond (who turned out to be a thin, pale boy) was determined to get a seat near Krum, I rolled my eyes and turned to Violeta; letting her know that I would much rather be sitting in between her and Nikolai, but this was how the Headmaster wanted it, so be it. I let my eyes wander over all the tables looking at all the different faces and taking everything in. At the one us Dumstrangs were seated there were a lot of mean looking kids, some looked extremely full of themselves and I cast a disapproving eye upon those individuals. At the one with the eagle mascot were sat the girls and boys from Beauxbatons were getting many a lustful stares and didn't seem remotely perturbed by them. _Stupid Veelas. _The Hogwarts students at that table all looked incredibly intelligent, some bored and there was one girl with white-blonde hair who looked a bit crazy. The yellow and black table bore a badger as its mascot, and I wasn't capable to put them all under one single tag, there were loads of different faces and expressions, though the main hair-colours were brown and blond. Finally I looked over the red and gold one. It was my favorite without doubt; the mascot was a lion, one of my favorite non-magical animals they, looked proud and carefree. Some were chatting amongst themselves, laughing, grinning and whispering conversations with half-smirks on their faces, eyes gleaming. The redheaded bunch were all sitting together mostly, discussing something quite happily. There were three redhead boys, I could tell now, and one girl. The black haired one was a boy and the one with the bushy brown hair was a girl, they were sat on either side on the youngest looking redheaded boy, the younger girl was talking to her friends though sat beside the black haired boy and the last two ginger boys looked utterly identical. They looked older than the rest of the group, and appeared to be teasing them in a way, the young ginger boy kept glancing at Krum and talking rapidly, he suddenly shot a glare at the blond boy who was still hovering around us and nudged the black haired boy, whispering something to him. I realized that the twins were also looking at Krum, they pointed subtly and I think that one asked "Who is that?" or at least that is what I managed to lip-read, he was answered by four unconcerned shrugs. It was then that I noticed that he hadn't been looking at Krum- he had been looking at me. He was wondering who I was instead of talking about 'how cool it was to have Krum at their school', I suddenly felt a small bond with this person; as if he had sided with me against my mortal enemy. I came back to myself as the Headmaster, Dumbledore I think, began to talk with another huge beam that filled his own eyes behind the half-moon spectacles. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most particularly – guests" He said, beaming around at us then at the ones from Beauxbatons. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable." One of the _delicate_ Beauxbatons girls clutching a muffler around her head laughed derisively and I wished she got a good head cold for being such a pussy. "The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast." Dumbledore continued. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!" _What? _Suddenly the golden goblets and plates filled up with food conjured out of thin air. I whistled under my breath as I took in the delicious sights, impressive. As Karkaroff immediately began to talk to Dumbledore- probably about the fact that I was still under aged –I dug into the food. It was strange because there were French foods, English Foods and some traditional Bulgarian dishes thrown in for good measure. I didn't stuff myself full unlike most people, but kept my table manners to a high standard and tried a few of the foreign dishes- and even then it was all delicious. Krum looked very grumpy throughout the whole feast, complaining that, he too, had a head cold. I couldn't help but feel in lighter spirits accost of my enemies suffering. Though he was exaggerating quite a lot. Finally Violeta declared that she could not eat another bite to me and so therefore we were both finished. Dumbledore got our attention again by standing up after all the plates were wiped clean. My eyes were full of wonder and excitement as he began to speak. "The moment has come" He said. "The TriWizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But firstly, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-Operation"- I knew this man, he had gone through a lot of trouble to stop me competing, I did not like him. Some clapped politely, but I didn't bother- "and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports". It wasn't surprising at all that he got much more applause than Crouch, some, like me, were even cheering. He was a great man, my Father talked highly of him- the best beater to ever live he said. "Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the TriWizard Tournament" Dumbledore restarted "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel which will judge the champions' efforts" At the word 'champions' everyone seemed to lean in closer to hear better, no one else talked or even breathed audibly so that the ultimate focus was on the tall old man. He seemed to notice because he smiled widely as he continued talking "The casket, then, if you please, Mr Filch" I didn't know who Mr Filch was, but I promptly wished that I hadn't had to discover. He was extremely repulsive; with an old, wrinkled face that appeared to be quite malevolent, thin bony build, a limp, needle-sharp dumb eyes and very rotten teeth. His hair was thin and his head slightly bold, the colour of his hair was a mix between dark, ugly grey and muddy brown. He went up to the large table where Dumbledore was, carrying an ancient wooden chest with glistening jewels encrusted into it. Excitable whispers arose from all four tables; even the pussy girl from Beauxbatons began to rapidly talk nonsense to her friends in French. "The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr Crouch and Mr Bagman, and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the whole school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways"- really? I hoped so, this would be a great competition for me to take part in-"their magical prowess – their daring – their powers of deduction – and, of course, their ability to cope with danger." The hall went deadly quiet once more, but I was beaming. If I was picked I could have a really good shot at winning this. "As you know, three champions compete in the Tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the TriWizard Cup. The champions will be selected by an impartial selector… the Goblet of Fire" Dumbledore took out his wand and tapped the casket thrice. Slowly, the creaking lid slid open. Dumbledore reached inside of it and pulled out a large, rough wooden cup. Not a goblet, a cup. It was slightly disappointing to see a brown tiny cup instead of the golden, majestic goblet that I had already imagined. But it wasn't entirely boring, because it was full of white-blue flickering flames as if it was just plain pumpkin juice. Dumbledore brought out the 'goblet' and placed it atop the closed lid of the casket for everyone in the hall to see. "Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment, and drop it into the Goblet" Dumbledore begun. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the Goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The Goblet will be place in the Entrance Hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the Entrance Hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line." His eyes flickered to me; I immediately got what he was trying to say. I would have to put my name inside the Goblet _before _he drew the Age Line. "Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the Tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the Goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are whole-heartedly prepared to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all." Dumbledore stepped back from the Goblet and podium as the students all filed out amidst excitable chatter. Karkaroff caught my eye and nodded firmly towards Dumbledore. Violeta got up and motioned for me to go with her. "Are you coming, Mila?" She asked with a smile, I got up as well but did not follow. "I am sixteen," I said "I cannot put my name in the Goblet after the Age Line has been drawn. Headmaster Karkaroff wants me to do so before this happens; I will catch up with you later on the ship." I concluded, Violeta nodded and grinned at me encouragingly whilst throwing me a thumbs-up before walking away with Ivana and Aleksandar. When the whole hall was empty save the Hogwarts Professors, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime (a gigantic woman dressed in black satin) I went up to their table smartly and bowed respectfully. Most of them found this strange, but it was one of our customs. "Professor Dumbledore, sir, I was wondering if my Headmaster has told you about my wish to compete?" I asked, they seemed to not quite understand my accent but Dumbledore nodded with a small smile. "Indeed, I see we have a special case here. Mr Karkaroff has told me that you are still underage but are perfectly capable of enduring the tasks whatever they may be, is that true Ms Angelova?" He was seeing if I would hesitate, if I could rise up to the challenge without flinching. I could. "Yes, I am as capable as any seventeen year old, if not more." I replied not missing a single beat. Mr Crouch looked disapproving but Bagman was as excited as a child on Christmas Day. Dumbledore nodded, his expression nearly solemn, and admitted me to get closer to the Goblet after passing me a piece of parchment. "Are you sure that you want to enter? It will be extremely tough, even for a girl that shows as much strength as you." Dumbledore looked stern. I was about to reply that I was very much capable to do this but Karkaroff interrupted. "Ms Angelova is one of my best students, she is completely confident that she can do this and come out unscathed" He stated proudly, but Dumbledore shook his head. "With all due respect, Igor, I believe I asked the girl and not you." He chided without a hint of annoyance. He looked at me and Karkaroff glared at the back of his head. "I have been preparing for this my entire life. I live in a competition, sir, my parents raised me to be the best and this is the chance that I need to take for that to happen" I answered evenly, the old man nodded once more and let me be

**Mila Angelova.**

I let the parchment slowly float into the Goblet, to my surprise, it did not burn. I smiled unknowingly and bowed to the Professors once more before striding out of the hall, my smile getting bigger and broader with every step I took, my previous thoughts ringing in my ears: _**I could win this thing.**_

I was so busy in my happiness I didn't realize that amongst the live portraits two pairs of eyes had been watching me since before I even left the hall.

Back on the ship I found Violeta and Nikolai waiting for me in the dining room, which was completely empty of any food whatsoever. Violeta grinned at me and beckoned me closer. The room wasn't really a room; it was more like a sort of large rectangular/triangular space in one of the lowest decks, joined to the rest of the ship by several sets of wooden step-ladders. There were many lamps floating around, but only a few were lit, casting shadows and making everything look sinister and somber. Violeta seemed to notice that it was quite eerie, because a second later she lit three more floating lamps; bathing a quarter of the space in a golden-silver light. She was smiling at me and so was Nikolai. I plopped down on a chair beside the table that they were sitting on. "Is it done?" Nikolai asked, receiving a cheery nod from me. "All done and dusted my friend" I replied making them grin wider. "Now it will definitely be you" Violeta spoke, I was taken aback; she was here to compete as much as I. "What?" I asked lamely, I could have said so much more, but instead I waited for her to explain like I was a dumb fool. "We've been thinking you see," – she nodded at Nikolai who was also smiling broadly at me –"and really, there's more chance of you winning than the two of us together" She finished but before I could comment Nikolai began to speak. "We don't really want to win like you do, in fact I myself am only here because one; I couldn't stay back and two; because there is no way I am missing you win, Mila. But of course" – he was relieved of the talking by Violeta again, making me wonder if they had rehearsed this –"We'll put our names in anyway, just in case you don't get picked. Better one of us than let Krum and his silly girlfriend disgrace us all right?" She said, and I had to admit that she had a point. There was no way in hell I could let Krum make us all look like freaks and fools, so I guess that I had to pray to any God that would listen to let me be the Dumstrang Champion. Krum was easily dazzled by pretty girls, and if Hogwarts and Beauxbatons' Champions were pretty girls then there was no way that we could win this thing. It was time that me, Violeta and Nikolai took this into our own hands if we wanted to come out victorious, no doubt about it.

In the morning it took a few seconds for me to remember that we had arrived and it would all be revealed tonight. I felt myself beam before jumping soundlessly onto the floor below my bunk and picking up my uniform from where I had left it last night. Considering that it was a lot warmer here than back at our own castle I discarded the thick third jumper and just stayed in my insulated shirt, trousers, school jumper and some sort of warm, blood red thinner robes in exchange for the thick fur cloaks that we travelled in. I changed in the bathroom while Nikolai was still asleep. We weren't to have meals aboard the ship, but inside the actual castle along with the other two schools so I headed out as soon as I was dressed and presentable. Out on the deck the air was cold (not surprising considering that it was late October), but it still was no match for the freezing temperature back at Dumstrang. The sky was thickly clouded with clouds such pure white that I struggled to see the beginning and ending of each one. The grass had a thinner amount of morning-frost than back at home and the trees were bare of snow which was something quite new to me. I trudged up to the castle all alone, enjoying the quietness of this hour at this alien place. Back at home, even at this hour of the morning, people would already be practicing magic inside and outside some classes already started. But here everything seemed to be asleep, even the birds singing their chirped songs were scarce. It was unknown to me what the time was but I doubted it was so early, perhaps about eight or nine o'clock. I walked through the corridors till I reached the big Entrance Hall. It already had a few students in, mostly Hogwarts ones dressed in red and gold and black but there was a mix of at least twenty students really. Some were eating toast at the four tables, some just eyeing the Goblet and speaking excitedly I realised that the reason why there was such little people here was because it was Saturday, even our students have a nice lie-in on Saturdays. The Goblet was placed on a four-legged stool in the center with a faint golden circle drawn around it. As I moved away from the doors two boys and a girl came in talking, they sat down at the red and gold table and asked another girl there who had put their names in. –"All the Dumstrang lot" –was all I caught. So my fellow schoolmates had all come and put their names in before I woke up and then gone back to bed eh? That was fine by me. I wouldn't want any of them lingering around to watch what my curiosity was about to make me do. I walked over to the Goblet and stood just outside the circle, what would happen if I tried to go through? There was only one way to find out. I took another step forward, if I leaned in half an inch my nose would be over the line. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I tried to get through. To my disappointment nothing extreme happened, it just pushed me back a meter or so away from it. "Nice try"-

"Little girl"-

"Shame you're not old enough"-

"Yeah, shame". As the two masculine voices ended their little duologue I whirled around to be face to face with a pair of twin redheads. I frowned at them.

"Who are you?" I asked, ignoring their taunting remarks.

"I'm offended Gred"-

"So am I Forge. I can't believe she's so tactless"-

"Not knowing who we are"-

"Such ignorance"-

"Indeed Gred, it's disgraceful" The one on the right finished, but my question still lay unanswered. Who were these two weird boys?  
"If you would be kind enough to tell me your names so that we could avoid me hexing you two, I am not sure if you know – but I don't need to follow Hogwarts rules" I said icily fingering my wand dangerously. What I did not expect them to do was to burst out laughing. What was so funny? I was lost. I guess I let the threatening look slip from my face because they cracked up even more. My eyebrows knitted together, what was _wrong _with these two?

"Excuse me" –but the twin on the left cut me short.

"So polite isn't she?" –

"I bet Mum would like her" –

"She'd probably fuss over her even more than over Harry" –

"Dunno, she fusses over Harry a lot" –

"You're right. Maybe a little less than over Harry" The one on the left finished. I was gravely confused but put on a stony face.

"Just either introduce yourselves or please be gone" I said loudly to them, just in case they didn't hear me over their whispers ("Funny accent hasn't she?" "I think it's cute, Forge"). They finally paid attention to me and with identical friendly smiles stretched their hands out, the one on the left extended his right and the one on the right extended his left. I shook them both at the same time.

"I'm George Weasley" Said the one on the right with a wicked grin.

"And I'm Fred Weasley, the better looking twin." Said the other one.

"And who are you?" They said in unison. I felt a headache coming in.

"I'm Mila Angelova, and for your information my name is already in the Goblet" I said haughtily, with as much pride as I could muster, being a good deal shorter than them. George laughed shortly.

"But you couldn't even get through the line!" He pointed out, I shrugged with a smirk. "I know" I replied. Fred had a look of amusement mixed with disbelief.

"That means that you couldn't put your name into the Goblet" He stated, I shook my head. "My Headmaster talked to the Ministers and to your Headmaster and they all agreed to let me put my name in before the Line was drawn" I replied triumphantly, now it was their turn to frown.  
"Why would they do that?"

"Because I am more skilled in magic than you two nit-wits could ever comprehend"

"Using big words will not make you sound smarter"

"I think it does"  
"Actually Gred, it kind of does"

"Shut _up _Forge"

Somehow we had ended up drifting away from the Goblet and standing right beside the two boys and the girl at the red and gold table.

"What are you two arguing about now?" The redheaded boy asked irritably, he had long limbs and none and was quite covered in freckles. They looked like family. "None of your beeswax, nosy Ronniekins" Fred smirked.

"But if you must know, we're arguing about this lovely lady's intelligence"

"Hmm, I guess big words _do _make people sound intelligent George"  
"Told you so"

They wounded up their (presumably) little brother whilst the girl and the black haired boy looked at me. I smiled confidently and stretched out my hand to her.

"Mila Angelova, nice to meet you…" I trailed off waiting for her to tell me her name. "Hermione, Hermione Granger"

"Nice to meet you then, Hermy-own-ninny" I tried saying her name but it was hard, their odd accent also made it hard for me to understand. But thankfully, she didn't comment. I moved onto the boy.

"Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you Mila" As he shook my hand I couldn't help but ogle at his forehead, sure enough, there was a lightning-bolt shaped scar slightly covered by his jet black hair. I also was surprised to see that his eyes were the exact same bright green to Violeta, which was odd to say the least; considering that they were only that colour because she was a Metamorphagus.

"Nice to meet you too, Harry Potter."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four. **

I would like to see how many of my Dumstrang fellows have met Harry Potter so far, because _I _just met him and they were too early to see him. I chided myself for thinking about Harry as a sort of public attraction; because he wasn't. The poor boy had lost his parents in a tragic murder scene; they had been killed by the most talented, but also the most repulsive, wizard of all time. I do not mean Merlin. Voldemort. Even his name sounded disgusting. To think that the Headmaster that I respect so much had been one of his followers makes me feel sick at the pit of my stomach, it really does.

Fred and George suddenly seemed to remember what they were here for and rounded up many cheers as they produced twin bottles with a strange liquid inside them. They said some things too fast for me to understand and drunk from the vials. Nothing actually happened, but they ran at the Age Line anyway. I didn't see what was so amazing about having crossed it; after all, they were seventeen, right? That meant that they could go right through it without any trouble. "Fred Weasley" Fred muttered loudly as he scribbled onto a piece of parchment, I am not sure what happened next, but one moment they were laughing triumphantly and about to put their names into the Goblet and the next they were on the floor with very white hair and matching beards, looks of utter confusion etched on their faces. So, story cut short, a black boy with odd hair went up to them laughing and tried to help them up. I also decided to give them a hand, and the four of us went proudly out of the Hall, Fred using me as extra support and his arm was digging into my back. I wasn't sure where we were going, but the boys seemed to know rather well. I couldn't understand all of what they were saying, (which was frustrating, to say the least), but I did catch snippets of their conversation.

(Actual conversation):  
Odd Boy: "Who is this girl?"

George: "A Dumstrang student"

Fred: "She's called Mila Angelova"

Odd Boy: "For real?"

Fred and George: "Yeah"

George: "Why?"

Odd Boy: "My Dad was sent over to Bulgaria for Ministry business last year. He met a guy called Andrei Angelova; this guy's supposed to be like, Bulgarian royalty as far as wizards are concerned, he's to be the next Minister in a couple of years"

(Twins look flabbergasted)

Fred: "Really?"

Odd Boy: "Yup, why don't you ask her?"

And so, the conversation now included me. I gave a nod in response to their questioning stares, I at once felt the uncomfortable elbow in my back loosen slightly as Fred regained a different position to look more mature and professional – perhaps recalling the fact that he had been getting on my nerves earlier and that my father was a _very _important person in society. I couldn't help but laugh, causing them to stop and look at me strangely.

"Don't worry" I told them with a grin. "I am no 'Daddy's Girl' as you English would say" The Odd Boy laughed along with me at the strange looks on the Twins' faces. "Come on" – I nudged them to follow – "Let us rid you of those horrendous beards before others call you their Headmaster" I was acutely aware that my accent sounded very foreign compared to theirs and wasn't sure that they understood what I was meant to be saying. At Dumstrang we talked Bulgarian (as a very large number of the students were Bulgarian and those who weren't were brought up to understand it), so talking English to three English boys made me nervous. It was very new to me not being able to communicate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and even newer to be unsure if I was being understood, but I didn't mind; I had taken a liking to these three you see, they were the first ever people to tease me without looking extremely terrified, and had gone as far as to laugh in my face. It made me realise that I didn't like being feared, of course, it came in handy, but it just wasn't what I wanted. So I talked and laughed with them as we went to what they said was the Hospital Wing, me and the Boy, Lee he said, sitting on stools beside their beds as a frightening woman went up and down the place with bottles full of Merlin-knows-what.

After a while Nikolai came for me, saying that Karkaroff had decided to make us go to classes with the Hogwarts lot so that we could know to what level in magic they were capable to go. I, personally, thought it wasn't a bad idea, and waved my farewell to my three new friends. The corridors were once again bustling with activity, which I found completely alien seeing as they looked happy and were talking loudly; running; laughing; and some even practicing spells along the way to wherever they were going. Karkaroff was waiting by the statue of a gargoyle with the other eight Dumstrangs. "This is Dumbledore's office, we need to see with which people you shall take your classes" He said monotone on again.

We all nodded politely as he whispered something incomprehensible at the gargoyle, which immediately swung aside to reveal a set of spiral stairs.

At the top was a set of wooden doors, they were open and Dumbledore was waiting by them. "Ah, good to see you all came" He led us to a desk in midst of a huge and wonderfully decorated study, a phoenix was perched near some more stairs, foreign artifacts were littered all over the place, living portraits adorned the walls. Even the very air we breathed felt magical. A tattered old hat was placed patiently on the desk; it didn't look anything out of the ordinary.

"Eldest first" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly and I had to sustain a smile. Krum waddled forward in his very undignified manner and Dumbledore put the hat on his head. I nearly jumped when it began to talk.

"Just momentarily, eh? To see with which house you shall take some classes, no? Well, I do not hesitate to place you in Slytherin!" The hat called out 'Slytherin' loudly so that we could all hear, but it meant nothing to us really, he was just moved aside. Next went Aleksandar, who was placed in Ravenclaw, followed shortly by Nikolai who also went into Slytherin (though it took much longer for the hat to decide and it kept saying stuff about Gryffinboar or something like that). Next up was Sergei, who was put into Hufflepuff as well as Dimitar, and then it was Ivana (Ravenclaw). Violeta was after Ivana, and, again after many 'Griffinboar' words like Nikolai, was placed into Ravenclaw.

The hat didn't miss a beat to put Rayna in with her boyfriend Krum in Slytherin, and hadn't Nikolai been sorted there I would have thought that house to be demented. Kalina was also sorted into Hufflepuff with her fellow house mates. Finally it was my turn to go, last, being the youngest. Dumbledore placed the hat carefully atop my head; it felt worn and old and smelled anciently musty. "Oh what have we here? You are a lot like those other boys, Krum and Bojilov, yes. Ambitious, cunning and not really always with the best intentions. But you're also very brave and willing to prove your worth to those who matter the most to you. I see that you are very proud, perhaps a little too much so, and you have an organized mind, yes, – family first, then best friends, friends, people that you know, others that you don't, enemies and right at the bottom it's Krum huh? I have half a mind to put you in Slytherin, but since I have a full one, I put you in Gryffindor!" My first thought was _"So it wasn't 'Gryffinboar' but Gryffindor" _Then I was glad that I wasn't to be with Krum, and lastly I realised that I was the only on to be placed here. I looked around in confusion as Violeta and Nikolai's looks of disappointment reached me. Wait, what? How could I be the only one here? Be logical, it's hard for me to even _understand _English, never mind be alone in class with a bunch of English kids! Maybe my bewilderment was visible in my eyes, because I saw Krum smirk – and at once, I felt it abandon me. I wanted to wipe that stupid smirk of his ugly face with a dragon-scale ten-foot broom. But since that was clearly not going to happen I just nodded, smiled, and

Pulled the hat off; leaving it on the table once more.

"Excellent, I shall have a student from each house in your years come and fetch you to show you around and explain things further to you" Dumbledore said, within seconds there was a knock on the door. Four people stood there, two girls and two boys. One girl was shorter than the other four, and I guessed that she was the one that had come for me. She was wearing a red and gold tie, so I felt happy that I had got into the house that I liked from the start. They came in at Dumbledore's command. "Mr Diggory, would you mind showing these three" – he motioned at Dimitar, Kalina and Sergei– "around? They will be taking classes with your house." Dumbledore said politely. It was an indirect order, something that Karkaroff never used with us, he would be direct and just say 'Takes theses three here for a tour' and leave it at that.

Diggory smiled and bowed his head slightly. "Yes, Sir" He looked meaningfully at my three comrades and they were out of the door. Next, Dumbledore spoke to a very clever looking girl in blue and bronze. "Ms Clearwater, these other three" – this time he waved his hand in the direction of Violeta, Ivana and Aleksandar – "are in your charge, please make sure that they are enlightened." With a curt nod from Clearwater my best friend and her two friends vanished. It was just Nikolai, Rayna, Krum and I left now, the girl in red and gold was stood a safe distance away from the boy in green and silver; I doubted that she liked him very much.

"Ah, Mr Spiers, you are in charge of Mr Krum; Mr Bojilov and Ms Zukanov. You are to show them around and make sure that they know what they are to do and where to go" Dumbledore spoke to the boy, Spiers, with much more firmness than to the other two, though for which reasons, I know not. He wasn't bad looking, with a medium blond neat mop of hair and light brown eyes. He was taller than me, and didn't have an unpleasant face; his lips were semi-full in a respectful smile, a straight nose, light and thin eyebrows and long eyelashes. It made me wonder what he had done to get such a cold shoulder from the girl.

"_They are English" _– I thought – _"he probably just cheated on her." _

Either way, the boy was soon gone with Krum and Rayna (good riddance!) as well as Nikolai; who flashed me a grin and gave me a small wave of goodbye. I hadn't realised that Karkaroff had already left and that it was just Dumbledore, the girl and me alone in Dumbledore's office. "Angelina, this is Mila. You take good care of her will you?" Dumbledore sounded friendlier with her, like he knew her better. Maybe he had a favorite house and she was in it? Or maybe it was because she was younger than the other three? I wasn't to know, for she just flashed him a grin and raised her eyebrows in the way of the door at me.

"You coming?" She asked, it was rhetorical, but I nodded anyway.

She let me catch up with her and turned to me with a wide smile on her pretty face. She stretched her hand out to me. "I'm Angelina Johnson" She said.

"Mila Angelova" I gave her hand a nice shake and looked up at her face as she started talking again. "So you're from Dumstrang, eh? Is it nice, wherever you lot live? You know Krum, what's he like? I mean, I've only ever saw him at Quidditch matches – and in my fanatical sisters Witch Weekly posters – so I don't have the foggiest clue. There are tons of girls who are all obsessed with him here though" She talked fast; she had a slight accent and wouldn't let me answer most of her questions- which made me laugh. She stopped and looked quizzically at me, wondering what was so funny perhaps. "You talk so fast" – I explained – "I can barely understand what you say!" I grinned at her in amusement. She gave a short guffaw but apologized. "It is forbidden to us to tell you where Dumstrang is – though I don't even know myself – but I can assure you that it is not as beautiful as your school, it is extremely cold too. I do know Viktor Krum, though we are not friends, more like- how do you say? Rivals. Yes, rivals. We do not like each other much, but I will admit that he is a very good flier. He cannot walk very well though, and often waddles like a duck. He thinks very highly of himself, he is also rather moody and rude with strangers - and even more with me – but I do not know what he is like with his friends so I cannot tell you what he is really like, Angelina. You have a nice name by the way" I saw her grin at my compliment and steer me in the direction of some stairs. "Thanks. Careful with the staircases, they move by themselves whenever they feel like it" She informed me, making me truly wonder if she was joking, but sure enough; the stairs above us began to move. I shook my head in delighted disbelief. "Moving staircases, you English are truly fascinating and completely bizarre at the same time" I commented with a small laugh in which Angelina also joined me amiably. "I guess we are" She added happily. She pointed out so many things that there was no way I could remember them all let alone write them down here, but there are bits and pieces that my brain found relevant enough to keep somewhere safe inside my head; such as the Slytherin Dungeons, the Hufflepuff Basement, the Ravenclaw Tower and finally the Gryffindor tower as well. There were other things too, like the haunted bathroom (in which a very moody ghost splashed us with toilet water), Filch's office (these are all places to avoid if I can) and anywhere near a person called Snape's office too. The last place on her tour was the Gryffindor Tower, but, different to the rest of the places, she actually told me that we could go inside.

She said "Balderdash" and a large portrait of a rather fat lady in a pink silk dress swung open revealing a common room through it. I guessed that you had to say a password to get in, and 'Balderdash' was that password.

"I don't mind letting you hear" – Angelina started as she stepped through the hole with practiced ease – "Because you're basically a Gryffindor now, you can come here any time you want- and if that old bat asks you how you know the password just tell her that I told you it, alright?" Angelina turned to look at me to find my eyes wide in admiration; their common room was amazing. It was a circular room with two sets of spiral stairs, a _lit _fireplace, tables, chairs and even a couch or two. Everything was proudly decorated in red and gold, and the kids all seemed perfectly at home in there. "Wow" I breathed, my eyes scanning the crowds of the mingling students. There were ones older than me, some the same age, some younger and some that were so small and tiny that I thought I might accidentally step on them. I recognized a pair of redheads in a corner talking in hushed voices between themselves, but Angelina dragged me off to meet her friends; a girl called Katie Bell and another called Alicia Spinnet. Katie was the friendliest towards me; she was a short, blonde girl with very pretty hazel-blue eyes, she was very kind and nice and quite interested in going straight out asking me if I could get Krum's autograph for her, (at which I laughed and said that she had a better chance of getting an autograph off Krum than me). Alicia on the other hand was black haired with brown eyes and had a sort of Indian look about her. Both, Angelina and Alicia, were a year older than Katie, (much like me, Violeta and Nikolai), but were still extremely good friends. All three girls were exceptional Quidditch followers, and very different to me since I could just about fly straight – and very slowly – on a broom. "You just have to relax" Angelina laughed as I explained that I was about as good at Quidditch as a blind mouse.

"Yes, relax. Don't worry about the certainly-fatal deadly drop from a tiny, flying piece of wood onto extremely hard ground" I said sarcastically, making the girls laugh once more. "You're blowing it out of proportion!" Alicia exclaimed, leaning further into the soft, fluffy couch we were all sitting on. "Yeah, I mean, you would only like, break a few bones. Nothing _fatal_" Katie grinned slyly making me scowl.

"Fatal or not, I would much rather die with all my bones in one piece, thanks" I shot back laughing. We talked about multiple things before our conversation found its way to the Tournament. "I put my name in this morning" Angelina said proudly. "Just 'cause I made you do it!" Alicia grinned, shoving Angelina on the shoulder playfully. "_And _because I thought it sounded fun!" Angelina added haughtily. "Yeah right" Katie muttered under her breath, unluckily for her, Angelina heard her and chucked a cushion at her head. After I finished laughing I remembered that my name was also inside the Goblet right now.

"I put my name in it last night, before the Age Line was drawn" I piped up, the girls stared at me. "What?" I asked.

"You do know that's against the rules right" – Angelina gasped.

"You could get really told off for it" – Alicia warned.

"So? Let the girl have her fun! If she doesn't get caught she might as well have a blood" – but I cut her off, talking over the top of her.

"Actually, I was allowed to enter. My Ministry talked to yours about my case, and since I'm as skilled in magic as any other Seventh Year they let me put my name in" I explained, it took them a moment to register what I had said before Katie nudged me with a sort of faux jealous smile. "Lucky" She drew on the word, going slightly higher in pitch as she went. Was this an English custom? To make words longer and high-pitched? I don't think that we learned that in Primary English Lessons. Alicia nodded with admiration. "Sounds like you must be pretty good, then" She said. I didn't know what I could say that wouldn't sound conceited so I merely nodded. I saw Angelina smirk suddenly. "That means that we might be against each other in the Tournament!" She exclaimed with delight. I was puzzled; was that good? If I won wouldn't that make her angry with me? And if she won wouldn't she boast about it and make _me _angry at _her_? I decided that it was plain useless trying to understand the way that an English girl's mind works.

Katie looked down at her watch with a gasp. "Oh God, we're late! C'mon guys, let's go!" In a flash Katie was up on her feet and pulling both of her friends up with her. "We'll see you later!" Angelina called back at me.

"Yeah, see ya!" Alicia said popping her head back in through the whole before disappearing. (Along with a very loud "Come _on _Alicia!" from Katie). I sat there for a while longer by myself before deciding to go back to the ship. Well, that was my intention anyway. I was distracted, so on the way to the portrait I bumped into none other than Fred Weasley. "Oh! Sorry, didn't mean t- oh hey Fred" I was on the floor looking up at him. "Hello Mila" He greeted, extending a hand to help me up, I took it gratefully and he pulled me up to my feet. "Thank you" I said but he just shrugged it off. He looked back over at George who was busy talking to some girl with a flirtatious look on his face, Fred looked embarrassed. "I bumped into you 'cause I was trying to hear what they were saying. Never seen that girl in my life you see, but George seems awfully interested in her" He took his eyes of me, craning his neck to get a better look at them. I whacked his arm playfully and dragged him away with a chuckle. "Come on you nosy boy, why don't you show me the most interesting parts of the castle? Angelina only showed me important places, but not all very exciting" I suggested, this idea was mainly for the sake of his brother and the poor girl he was trying to conquer. Fred looked sheepish but snuck one last look behind him and nodded. "Alright, not like I have a better thing to do than show a pretty lady some nice and private places" He winked charmingly and I hit him again with a grin. "Oi you. Let us go then" I said, climbing out the portrait to find him just staring at me amusedly.

"What?" I asked quizzically. He just shrugged with a smile.

"You talk funny" He said, again, I was confused. How did he find my words amusing? "I do not understand" – I said feeling slightly foolish – "have I said something humorous?" At which he once more laughed.

"No! It's just that the words you use are so long and, well, _proper_" He said as if it was self-explanatory, but really; it just made me feel stupid.

"Oh? So it is wrong to use proper words? I apologize; my English is not the best. So instead should I be saying things like 'OMG' and 'TTYL' and 'LOL' and 'Lates'?" I asked him, it was strange, like I was five again; being taught the same language that I was taught eleven years ago from a completely different angle.

Fred shook his head once more; I could see it in his face that he was suppressing a smile. "No, it's more like you sound really grown up and stuff."

"Stuff?" I asked.

"Another word for 'things' that the kids from this century use" He taunted, I laughed. "Well, maybe you should teach me how to say _stuff _the 'improper way'" I challenged with a triumphant smirk. Fred rose to the challenge with a smug shrug of his shoulders. "Sure" He changed course and took me on a different route, ending up in front of the Dumstrang Ship. I half expected him to just go right up and half expected him to ask me if he was allowed up. But actually he went and sat down beneath a tree, motioning for me to sit with him also.

"Well, alright. Where do you want to begin?" He asked comfortably, in the way that rested against the trunk of the tree I could tell that this was a familiar spot for him. I pondered his question for a minute, finally deciding that the beginning was probably the best place to start. "Start with the basics" I said. And soon, I, Mila Angelova, was sitting on wet grass next to a lower class Hogwarts student; learning the ways of speech of the kids my age in England rather than the monotone English that my classy English teacher had taught me. Something I was not fully expecting when I left Dumstrang to compete for sure.

Karkaroff summoned us back onto the ship a while later, just before the Hallowe'en Feast. He wanted to ask us if we had all put our names in, there wasn't a single shake of the head amongst us, which pleased him very much, even if his eyes lingered on Krum. Krum was Karkaroff's favorite student, no doubt about it. Perhaps it was because of the fame that Krum cast over Dumstrang, or just because he gave Karkaroff the pride to say _'Yes, Viktor Krum? World's best Quidditch Seeker? Ah, he is my student you know'. _Krum was his very own pride and joy. I, of course, came a close second; many thinking that I was a magical prodigy, I think that I can't be too short of it anyway (who wouldn't want to be remembered that way?). I hated being second to Krum though, because Krum always takes every opportunity he gets to remind me about it- which is why I _will _be the Champion for our school. Yes Krum, you may be the teacher's favorite fool, but I am definitely the _only _great one. I will make sure of it.

Karkaroff trudged us up to the castle, entering the Hall a little before Harry, Ron and Hermione (who waved at me and earned a wave back under the watchful and disapproving gaze of Karkaroff). I made out the faces of the twins, Angelina, Katie and Alicia on the Gryffindor table. Katie waved at me and nodded at a few spaces of empty seats near her and the twins. I nudged Nikolai and Violeta, motioning at the Gryffindor table, asking them if they were coming with my eyes. Nikolai took a quick look at the back of Krum's and hastily nodded. We took our facing Lee, Fred and George and me sitting with Violeta on my left, Nikolai on my right. He was already beginning to talk charmingly to Katie, who was thoroughly amused.

Dumbledore stood at the podium and at once everyone was quiet. The tension and excitement all molded into one: the moment everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived. "Good evening to all. I can see the ecstasy in all of your faces, but I am afraid that you must all eat first, so tuck in!" As he raised his arms food suddenly appeared on the golden plates, drinks in the golden goblets. As it was Hallowe'en everything was decorated for the occasion, there were also loads of sugary treats to choose from. I put as much of the delightful food onto my plate as I could, mirroring Violeta and Nikolai in the plain joy of seeing so much sugar on Hallowe'en (we didn't get this at Dumstrang, you see). Fred looked at me and laughed. "What? Never had any of this before?" He asked jokingly, but I wasn't kidding when I shook my head and beamed as I found the licorice wands that I had loved so much when I was younger and piled my plate high with them as well as with Berty Botts Every Flavoured Beans. Ah, it felt amazing to be full of these delicious sweets. I gave a sudden belch and my hand flew to my mouth.

"Oops, pardon me!" I muttered in Bulgarian, Fred laughed.

After a very long time, all the plates were clean of anything tasty (which was everything actually) and Dumbledore got up once more. I felt like I could burst out with the tension, a knot had somehow tied itself up inside my belly and I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. I was too focused on the Goblet to actually hear anything that went on around me. Would I be picked? Of course I would, there was no point in being negative…maybe if I cross my fingers and close my eyes hoping very hard…no, that wouldn't work…maybe I should have brought some Felix Felicis back with me from school? Stop being stupid Mila, if you get picked you get picked and if not…you'll get picked. You will. Don't worry. _You will. _A piece of parchment flying out of the Goblet brought me back to the present, I wondered who it was and couldn't stop myself from crossing as many fingers as I could. Oh please, _please, _let it be me.

"The Beauxbatons Champion is…Fleur Delacour!" Polite applause arose from each table as Fleur strode over to Dumbledore with high dignity.

Another piece of parchment flew out and Dumbledore, again, caught it.

"The Dumstrang Champion is" – I held my breath fearing for the worst, the word 'Viktor Krum' were just about to roll out of his tongue – "Mila Angelova!" I couldn't believe it. The moment had been magicked up by my imagination, it wasn't actually happening. But it was. It really was. The Gryffindors that I knew broke into inhumanly loud applause, the others joining in not wanting to be left out. My Dumstrang friends were the loudest out of both Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were also very loud, and the few Slytherins that Nikolai was friends with were roaring with applause and cheers just like the rest. Violeta beamed and pushed me up I had to keep telling myself to keep my excitement and happiness under control as I walked over to Dumbledore, but once he had shook my hand and given me back my piece of parchment I whirled around and flashed the four tables a beam and a thumbs up, which arose even more cheers from my friends. I ran into the extension room with a spring in my step. Yes, I had actually made it.

I was the Dumstrang Champion!


End file.
